Lovely Day
by Vive La Resistance
Summary: Mindy thinks that Paul Leotard is annoying, arrogant, and very good looking doctor, but does she also know that he's an avid hiker who, in his rush to get away, forgot to bring his most expensive Swiss Army Knife with him?
1. Touch of Grey

**For the sake of keeping the setting the way it was in both the movie and the TV show, I'm not gonna change the location of the hospital or the "incident". Also, for convenience, Dr. L drove to Utah; which would be about a two-day trip (its plausible cause he's pretty angry in this fic). I haven't really seen the Mindy Project, except for that one episode (season 2, episode 1) and the pilot, so I'm not too sure about everyone's attitudes; hopefully I get the gist of it. I haven't read "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" either, but I'm planning on it. I guess I just came up with this idea cause I saw a commercial for the Mindy Project, and that one episode seemed kind of interesting, if not a bit exaggerated. So, this story will be set in New York and everything that takes place occurs after 127 Hours , obviously if you've seen the movie you'll know what I'm talking about, but if not, you should watch it**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or TV shows or movies, this is a story created purely for the fun of it.**

* * *

Have you ever thought that there are certain things put on earth just to cause you pain? Like from the very moment you were born, there that object was, just waiting to hurt you?

Well that's what Mindy was thinking as she slammed on the snooze button of her alarm clock. She'd just gotten the thing a week ago; it was supposed to say things to boost your self-esteem when the alarm when off and already it was getting on her nerves. From the moment she'd bought it she knew it was a mistake; the box it came in had given her a paper cut on the way to check out.

Not that she hadn't already annoyed this week; the alarm clock just added to her list of problems. For the past month she'd been competing against Dr. Paul Leotard (she thought that was a weird name too), to get her job back. It hadn't helped that she'd been gone for several months in Haiti, and to add flame to the fire; she was the one who had requested a leave.

She really had no right to barge in all of a sudden, but she couldn't help it, she was naturally competitive and she really wanted her job back.

It has all sort of started when the clinic staff called him Doctor L; naturally she was hurt, and after all, everyone knew that was her nickname. She had to admit that he was a good doctor and good-looking too, but the temptation had been just too much, and now she found herself carrying the weight of the world on her back.

She hadn't meant to get him fired, sure she'd had a long talk with Jeremy, who was a good friend of hers and managing partner of the clinic, and she'd gone in there with Danny to back her up (who for some reason seemed to have a vendetta against Paul).

Afterwards, she'd been told that Paul had two months to get his affairs in order. She tried to talk to him, but when she confronted him in the break room, he pushed past her muttering something about Canyon Lands, Utah.

He'd been gone for about two weeks now, which she felt somewhat bad about. Not that it was her fault, he should obviously show up to work on time, even when he's gonna be out of a job in a few months. So, that's how she found herself here, in this situation.

She felt bad about Paul, but she also needed her job, it was the only thing she knew how to do, besides, he was charming enough to get a job anywhere he wanted to, he'd probably do better than her at finding one.

The thing was, she'd been dreading his return to work. She knew it was awful, but she'd been relived when he hadn't shown up at work at all last week. When Marc had started talking about filing a missing persons report, she quickly assured him that Paul was probably just cooling off some steam; after all he'd just been fired.

She was even more worried today, because maybe, just maybe, today might be the day that he returned to work and she had no idea what she would say to him "I'm sorry I got you fired" Wanna talk about it over some coffee?".

She told Betsy to tell her if he came in today, she figured she'd start off their conversation by avoiding him at first sight and maybe getting him some flowers or one of those cool cars that guys like.

She wasn't sure what she would do.

* * *

Mindy had just gotten out of the shower when her phone rang. For a minute she was tempted to throw the thing in a fish tank, but then she remembered that she didn't have one and, she had a pretty nice phone that deserved better than that. Her phone continued buzzing on the counter and playing that annoying song that she chose specifically for Betsy, until eventually, she reached over and picked it up.

"Hello?"

" The fox is in the house!" came the whispering answer on the other line

"What?!"

"The chickens have flown the coop!"

Mindy sighed "Betsy! I just told you to tell me whether or not he came into work! You don't have to be all ninja about it!"

"Sorry Mindy! I just thought since we were being all secretive, I should make things a little more real."

"Well it wasn't working!" Mindy reached down slightly annoyed and grabbed at her nail polish

" Did he say anything?' Mindy asked, curiosity getting to the better of her

"No, it was pretty weird" Betsy continued to a whisper "he was all quiet. You know how he's usually all talkative and sexy looking? Well he looked awful, with these big dark circles under his eyes and his clothes were all wrinkled, he didn't say much either."

Mindy didn't answer, all she could think about was if it was all her fault?

" Danny had to help him pour a cup of coffee, and Danny was actually the one who offered."

" What! Why?" she dropped the tiny nail polish paint brush

" It looks like he broke his arm on his hiking trip, he had it a sling and all."

Mindy felt the blood rushing to her head " So, he's gonna play the pity card huh? No wonder it took him a week to come back to work; he had to gather up the balls to actually do it."

" I don't know Mindy" Betsy answered "It didn't seem like he was faking it. He looked like he was in a lot of pain to be honest".

"Well if he's not, he will be! I didn't spend a month out-competing the guy in everything, just so he could have my office after a two-week vacation! I already took all his stuff out of there anyway and no one helped me!"

"Okay Mindy, but don't say I told you so" Betsy whispered before hanging up

Mindy picked up her nail polish brush and sighed, sure she was pretty pissed, but she was also relieved that the guy was actually okay. She would've felt bad if something had happened to him.

Now all she had to do was come up with an idea to make amends, she'd hadn't meant to be the job wrecker, she just couldn't stand the thought of being replaced.

If he was faking it, and she was almost positive that he was, then maybe she could get away with ignoring him and buying him a box of chocolates. Sure it might come off as a bit mean, but she'd been in a pretty horrible mood lately; with Casey in Haiti and all.

Who knows? Maybe he'd apologize to her for being such a big jerk and stealing her office, as well as refusing to negotiate with her those first few days back at work from Haiti. He should have been more understanding, she had just had her gallbladder removed.

Mindy glanced at her nails, they looked awful. She hadn't really been paying attention on the phone and obviously her nails demonstrated the consequences. There was no way in hell she was going to work looking like this, she had to show everyone there that she was way more professional than Dr. Faking Fake (Paul). Besides, it was about time that she fixed her hair and all.

* * *

When Mindy stepped out of the elevator, she thought she looked pretty damn sexy. That is until, she tripped over a stapler lying on the floor. She got up almost immediately (mind you, after thoroughly checking her new outfit for any rips or stains) and started cursing at whoever left the offensive office item lying on the floor.

Then she remembered. It had been her.

Last week, when she finally decided she couldn't take having all of Paul's stuff in her office, she threw it out in the hall. Of course, there had been some complaining from Morgan and Jeremy that she was making the place look like a trash pit, but honestly she couldn't care any less, besides she had no idea where she would put his stuff (maybe in that smaller office next to hers) and she wasn't feeling very helpful that day.

Instead of feeling bad about shoving his stuff into the hall, all she could feel was enraged. After all, he had the opportunity to move his stuff today. It was probably lowering their clientele, no one wanted to give birth in a crowded gross-looking doctors office. They'd probably all clicked the button for the second floor as soon as the elevator door opened.

Stupid midwives upstairs.

Stupid office supplies.

Most of all stupid Paul.

She wanted to cry. Why did her life have to be so complicated? She was sick of having to Skype Casey every night, and she was sick of feeling bad for having gotten her job back. She almost sat down against the elevator doors to begin her pity session, when Jeremy stepped out of his office.

"Where have you been? I love the hair by the way, you don't look as manly as you did before".

"No need to boost my self-esteem Jer, my clock already does that for me!"

"Sorry Mindy, I just thought it needed to be said, God knows everyone around the office was thinking it!"

"Uggh Never mind! Though, I do think that it looks much better now too. What is all this stuff still doing here Jeremy! I removed it from my office last week!"

" Well Mindy, obviously Paul can't do it cause his arm is broken" Jeremy sighed "someone else is gonna have to move it"

Mindy pushed past him irritated "It's not gonna be me!"

She felt like she needed some coffee right now, and maybe about 200 hundred pounds of whipped cream with one of those chocolate covered biscotti. She pushed open the door to the break room and slammed into someone. Mindy reached out and grabbed the side of the door to regain her balance, while the person she had run into wobbled a bit and then crashed onto the floor.

Mindy almost reached out apologetically before realizing who it was; Dr. Faking it

When she looked up she couldn't believe what she saw, obviously there had been no doubt in her mind before when she had thought that Paul was playing hooky, but now, he looked pretty damn horrible. It was evident that there was something seriously wrong with the guy, before he had impeccable fashion sense and now he couldn't even button his shirt right (they were all mismatched).

When Mindy had seen him the first time she had bet that he was a man who didn't own a single slip-on shoe, clearly she was correct in this assumption cause his shoes weren't even tied.

What struck her the most, was the fact that where his hair had once been perfectly done, he looked like he had just rolled out of bed after hibernating for a week (except without the sleeping part), and then forgot to shave.

Maybe she'd better consider buying that sports car.


	2. Bad Moon Rising

It was no mystery that Mindy was a gossip girl. It could have been a possible side effect from all the romantic comedies she had seen as a child, but there was just something about exposing someone's deepest darkest secrets, that Mindy relished in. Maybe it helped lift her self-esteem, unlike that clock.

At this particular moment, Mindy was practically salivating over the possibilities. Almost so much so, that she pretty much forgot that Paul was still on the floor in front of her.

"Oh my God Paul! Are you okay? What happened? Did you get slapped around by your girlfriend?" Mindy raced forward, eager to get some answers.

Paul, who was noticeably startled, unsuccessfully tried repelled backwards, knocking over the coffee table in his failed attempt. It fell on his hand. Needless to say, Paul freaked out and started trying to push away with his feet, but he couldn't get unstuck.

Mindy watched for a moment puzzled. Paul's behavior was bizarre, she could see he was having a panic attack. He was breathing heavy and his face had paled. She stepped over to help him, lifting the table off the ground, it only weighed a few pounds.

Paul staggered to his feet, by grabbing on to the sofa next to him. He wobbled over to the corner of the room, acting somewhat, in Mindy's opinion, like a caged animal.

She followed him.

"Paul are you okay? I didn't think I weighed that much.." Mindy turned to face him and paused for a second.

Paul's pupils were blown wide, she almost couldn't see any iris.

"Are you on drugs!?" She blurted the words out before she even thought about them.

"Nice of you to show up to work stoned, you haven't even been here for two weeks!" Mindy expected an answer from Paul, instead when she peered up she found him looking intently at his left hand.

"Dude! Are you even paying attention!" She grabbed his arm, unexpectedly, he lost his balance and nearly fell into her.

Mindy dragged Paul over to the couch, sat him down, and looked him in the eyes. "Are you okay? " This time Paul nodded, panting.

"I'm gonna get you a glass of water, just stay right there." Somehow, she didn't think he was gonna go anywhere.

Mindy went and grabbed a mug from the cabinet and filled it, she wasn't sure what was going on here, but she felt a bit better about herself now that she'd seen that Paul was all in one piece.

She went back over to Paul and handed him the glass of water. He gulped it down like he hadn't had a drink of water in weeks and then suddenly after trying to catch his breath, proceeded directly towards the trash can. He keeled over, and nearly fell in before emptying out what he had eaten for lunch.

Mindy sighed and held her hands over her eyes "Why can't I do anything right?" she started walking towards Paul again.

" I don't need your help" he looked towards her, chest heaving "Just leave me alone, I can handle this myself"

"Ok! Just don't ask me for help when you fall on your face going down the stairs!" Mindy felt her blood pressure rising again.

She stormed off to her office and slammed the door.

Mindy couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, but a surge of anger wiped the sensation away, Paul could take care of himself.

* * *

The knock on the door startled Mindy; she'd been engrossed with the new issue of Peoples magazine, and not to mention the pictures of the 100 sexist men alive.

It was Betsy who opened the door, she had a couple of files in her hand.

"I've got some patients for you."

Mindy looked confused "We haven't gotten any new patients yet, and I've already been given most of Paul's (with the exception of those clients who were due in less than 2 months)."

"I don't know Mindy, these were in your basket, maybe Dr. Shulman thought you could use a few more patients, we are gonna be spread a bit thin with Paul leaving and all."

Mindy glared at Betsy, wished she had heat vision or something "All right then just leave them on my desk, I'll look at them in a minute."

After Betsy left, Mindy flipped through a few more pages of her magazine before tossing it aside to look at the files.

She couldn't make out the signature on any of them, in fact it looked like a kid had scribbled on the line where it was supposed to be signed.

Mindy stood up a bit disgruntled, now she was gonna have to get up and go ask Betsy or maybe even Morgan, whose patients these were and why their files were on her desk.

She marched out of her office and over to the front desk where Morgan was currently perched.

Mindy shoved the files in his face "Who's patients are these?" she had an idea, but she wanted to hear someone else say it out loud.

"I don't know" Morgan started pouring over the paperwork, and then eventually handed one folder back to her "looks like the girl who came in to see Dr. L about a month ago while you were gone"

"Well why is he signing over all of his patients to me?"

"Gee I don't know Mindy" Morgan replied sarcastically "maybe it's because you can't deliver a baby with a broken hand?" He handed back the rest of the files

"Yeah, but this baby is due next month. I don't see the problem, Paul's hand should be healed and out of a cast by then."

"I guess that depends on the kind of break Mindy, maybe you should ask him?" with that Morgan turned away, rearranging the labels on the desk.

On the way out of there Mindy mumbled to herself, "If Paul wasn't going to do any work for the two months that he had left, why was he even here?" She thought it was unfair that she would have to take on all this extra work just because he broke his hand on a hike.

She paused at the door to his office before knocking tentatively, she didn't get an answer so she just pushed the door open and nearly stubbed her toe on one of the many boxes crowding up the small office.

Looking up, she found Paul asleep on his desk. She slapped the pile of folders down next to him, grinning when his head snapped up, startled.

"Don't sign your patients over to me , I already took on most of yours while you were on vacation. If you have a problem doing deliveries cause of your broken arm, take it up with Shulman, I'm not here to clean up after you." with that Mindy turned on her heels and marched out of the room.

It felt wonderful to take charge, her day was going much better than she had expected.

She passed by Jeremy and Danny in the hall, they stopped her for a minute before excitedly telling her about their plans for the night.

"We were all gonna go out for some drinks and burgers tonight, wanna go Mindy? We'll buy you a double cheese burger with cheese fries?"

"I don't know who's going?"

It was Jeremy who answered, " I invited Gwen, Morgan, Betsy and some others, I'll be kind of like an after office party"

"By others you mean Paul don't you?" Mindy deadpanned

"Look Mindy, your gonna have to face it, you may not like the guy very much, but you were the one who got him fired. Besides, he doesn't look very good lately, we thought this might cheer him up" Danny explained "he's gonna be gone in a few months, give the guy a break."

"Fine, but you better get me two doubles and a pint"

Mindy figured she'd spend the better part of the night gossiping with Gwen.

* * *

Before Mindy could meet at the rendezvous spot with everyone else, she had to change. Obviously it was a major fashion crime to wear what she had to work, on a night out even if she thought she looked pretty damn sexy that morning.

Mindy had a pretty long day, after stopping by Gwen's office to chat for a bit, she'd also had to sign off on a bunch of paperwork for her new patients.

Stupid Paul.

At least she'd given him back those last few he'd tried to push on her.

She didn't expect any deliveries soon, so she had that going for her, but she desperately missed Casey. Truth be told she felt a bit sorry for herself all alone in her apartment.

So, she splurged on a new outfit, those always made her feel better, even if Danny always told her that he hated her clothes and so did every man in general.

Tonight, she was gonna enjoy herself. Knock back a few drinks and eat whatever she wanted to. She deserved it after a rough day. Her only bring down was Paul, he annoyed her, thinking that he could get away with a paid vacation and no patients on his return. Oh no, she had to have some down time too.

Mindy's phone buzzed, it looked like Gwen was calling her. Everyone was probably already at the bar, she could afford to be a bit late, it made for a better presentation. Especially with the outfit she was wearing.

When Mindy walked into the bar, she liked to think that she made heads turn. That wasn't really the cause because everyone was too engrossed in the football game that was going on, but it was nice to imagine those kinds of things.

She sat down at the table with the rest of the gang, a bit surprised when no one said anything

"No one is even gonna tell me how nice I look?"

Betsy started to answer "I think you look nice..." before she was shushed by Jeremy

"Actually we're here to talk about Paul, I told him to come a bit later than the rest of us" there was a sudden rush of conversation

"What's up with Paul?"

"He's probably just bummed cause he lost his job"

"Maybe cause he got his ass kicked by his girlfriend"

"QUIET!" stunningly enough, it was Danny who got everyone to shut up. "We need to know what's wrong with Paul, he seriously doesn't look good at all"

Mindy answered before anyone else "Maybe he's on drugs, his eyes looked way dilated today." This sparked another heated conversation, before Morgan interrupted.

"Actually, I wasn't gonna say anything, but I found this in his desk" while everyone rolled their eyes (Morgan was notorious for rifling through people desks), he fished a pill bottle out of his jacket and set it on the table.

"It's a prescription for Oxycodone, and there were like 10 more prescriptions for other drugs in his desk. Some came from this hospital in Utah. The others are from a place down in Colorado."

"Could Paul be an addict?"

"Maybe that's why he went to Canyonlands, easy access? He has connections there?

"Well, he certainly doesn't look like one" Gwen sounded a bit concerned

"Here's the thing though, some of the drugs in his desk were antibiotics, I found a bottle of Rifampin..." He immediately cut off as Paul neared the table.

With everyone trying to act occupied as possible, it came off as a bit strange when Paul sat down at the table, everyone immediately greeted him.

Mindy for one felt a bit disgusted, she a hadn't considered the fact that Paul could be a drug addict until now. Maybe getting him fired had been the set off, still she couldn't be to blame for everything.

She watched as Gwen offered him a drink and he politely declined. There was one way to find out. Everyone knew that mixing drugs and alcohol was a big mistake, he'd probably refuse adamantly if she pushed him, and if not she could tell by his behavior after a drink.

" Hey Paul! Are you sure you don't want just one drink? I'll buy you a margarita, they've got the best ones here." It wasn't a lie, they served one of the tastiest margaritas she'd ever had.

Mindy watched his eyes light up, she knew that he probably wouldn't refuse, even when she requested double shots in them.

* * *

When Paul stumbled home that night, he knew he was more that just drunk. He told himself that he wouldn't have a margarita until he had weaned himself off of all the medication he was taking, but he couldn't help it.

He had dreamed of drinking a margarita for weeks, the taste of the salt on the rim and the condensation that dripped down the side. He felt warm and happy inside, he knew that he would probably sleep better tonight than he had in weeks.

He only had one, but he still could feel the effect. He could hear himself slurring, but he couldn't bring himself to care, he was content for the moment.

It felt like he had drunk 5 margaritas, but he knew that was just the pills.

When he reached the door to his apartment; albeit a bit slowly, Paul took out the keys from his pocket.

This part he knew was a bit of a challenge, more than once he had to wait for a neighbor to let him in because he couldn't turn the key with one hand.

It was 3 in the morning now, and he was pretty sure no one was gonna let him in this time.

He reached out with the keys to unlock the door, but they slipped and fell into the gutter that was currently collecting water from the rain storm that had just started.


	3. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere

**Sorry for taking so long to update, I've been pretty busy and this does take up some of my free time. I had a big Bio test last week, and figured I'd better focus on that. Also didn't get any reviews on the last chapter (was it boring?) let me know, so I can fix these things. This is gonna be a pretty long chapter, but if you don't like it tell me, so I can make it better, or tell me that it's good, cause that seriously makes my day.**

Danny knew people thought of him as an arrogant know-it-all (especially Mindy), but it was something he had always been okay with; after all it was the reason he had been the top of his class in medical school.

Danny was trying to change things and even though he had broken up with Christina, he felt that he should at least try and improve his attitude towards life, even if that meant he actually had to be nice to a few people every week.

So, while Mindy was gone, he'd given Paul his apartment to live in. Sure, he'd regretted it later on after that strange therapy session with Christina, but that had been his good deed of the month.

At first he'd been uncomfortable with the thought of someone else living in his old apartment. But now he was relieved, he wasn't sure he ever wanted to go back there again, it reminded him too much of Christina, and that was a bad thing, a really bad thing. Even though he hadn't actually lived there with her, she'd come over many times after they had gotten back together. Besides, he was happy with his new apartment closer to work.

Danny felt guilty lately, which wasn't entirely all his fault, because like everyone else he could succumb his whims, but now he felt terrible that he had gotten Paul fired. Like he said, he was trying to be a good person, and making someone else lose their job certainly didn't lend to the cause.

It was impulse that led him to do it, he had needed a friend to talk to and Mindy was just the person (he obviously couldn't talk to Jeremy, because that guy could have any girl he wanted, just by opening his mouth and saying hello). But Mindy being Mindy, wanted something, and Danny felt that it was just a little bit justified. Paul's little stunt at the therapy session hadn't helped his relationship in the least, and at that moment he actually believed that Paul had to go, for Mindy and his sake. He wanted Mindy back at work, he needed that person to relate to.

Danny hadn't minded when Paul didn't show up for two weeks, it meant that he had more patients and more work to keep him occupied. When Jeremy wanted to file a missing persons report, he just about freaked, but Mindy had calmed him down by saying that Paul was probably understandably upset about being fired. Still, Danny kept an eye out on the news for any dead bodies turning up in the river ( you could never underestimate Mindy), the only thing that came close was a lost hiker in Utah; which Danny thought was too long of a plane ride away from New York to be Paul.

Now that Paul had returned to work, Danny felt a bit better. In fact he was on the verge of being nice, the guy looked tired and pale that morning, and Danny had really tried to be as helpful as a person like him could be.

When Jeremy had come into his office that afternoon to discuss Paul's odd behavior, he'd been genuinely concerned. The guy had actually been really nice to him in Mindy's absence. That's why he and Jeremy had panned to meet everyone else later for drinks; especially Mindy (she'd been kind of pissy lately and kind of cold towards Paul).

Of course when he saw Paul's behavior after that margarita, he was sure that Morgan's suspicions were spot on. That first drink had left acting Paul even stranger, with the usual oxycodone side effects mixed in. He could barely make it out the door without stumbling. Either Paul was a super light lightweight, or he was high on something before he walked into that bar. Danny really did feel bad for Paul, so much so, that he'd been happy to wipe that smug look off of Mindy's face as she watched Paul stagger home. Mindy was acting pretty mean lately, he wondered if she'd been getting enough beauty sleep with that annoying alarm clock he'd gone to buy with her or with all those shots of tequila she took last night.

Speaking of which, Danny hadn't slept well that night after all those drinks either.

That's why he found himself walking to his old apartment, not really out of concern for Paul. But, rather because he actually missed Christina and he just needed someone to talk to, also for some reason, his old apartment reminded him of her. It was like the first time they broke up, he had blamed himself and written that sappy love letter, but after a while Danny began to get bitter, and he swore off Christina forever. He missed her, but maybe he didn't, maybe he was just lonely and needed someone hang out with. He'd seek out Mindy, like usual, but lately she'd been pretty self-absorbed.

He wasn't sure if he was going down there to pay a visit to Paul, just so he could have someone to talk to (he brought some patient files to start off a conversation), or to spend some time picking up a few things that he left there after he moved out. Frankly, he'd prefer the latter, because that would mean he wasn't so pathetic as to actually seek out someone to talk to, usually they would come to him.

* * *

New York was a bustling city, with millions of crowded people all trying to go to the same place at once, but not at 5 o'clock in the morning; even most trouble makers had to sleep, and not too many people were working at that time.

So, when Danny walked up to the stoop in front of his old apartment he didn't expect to see Paul there. Danny still had the keys to his old apartment and so did Christina, even though Paul was paying Danny the rent and not her (come to think of it, it never even was her apartment).

Paul had a variety of sticks sitting next to him, while he leaned against the building. Apparently oblivious to the world going on around him.

Danny wasn't sure whether Paul was sleeping or unconscious; though, he was most likely unconscious after that magic cocktail of drugs and liquor last night. Still, that was hours ago, and Danny was pretty sure it had rained last night. Paul looked like he was soaked.

Tentatively Danny tried to get Paul up.

"Paul? You okay man?"

Paul shifted a little from his place on the stoop.

Danny sighed, he knew someone should have taken Paul home last night; but no one wanted to. Danny guessed it had to do with the news that Paul could be a drug addict. Danny would have done it himself, but he wanted to have a good time and he was barely past his second drink before Paul wanted to go home.

Danny reached down and tried to get Paul up, slinging Paul's good arm over his right shoulder; he must have jostled Paul terribly but, he still didn't wake up.

Danny surmised that it was a good thing he still had his old apartment keys, or else he'd have to wake up one of the tenants; which meant about a 50/50 chance of getting in (Danny knew this from the many times he found himself locked out of his apartment drunk at 3 in the morning, all because he forgot his keys).

Staggering into the hallway (because Paul was heavy, though not as heavy as he had looked two weeks ago, surprisingly) Danny discovered that some of the dark patches he saw on the sleeves of Paul's button down shirt, were not from the rain water, but rather from some cuts and scrapes on Paul's arms. It explained what all the sticks were for. As impossible as it may seem, Danny too had lost many a key to the gutter, and he also unsuccessfully tried to fish them out using a long stick and a lot of patience. Needless to say, it rarely worked and resulted in him looking like he had stuck his hands into a cage full of kittens.

Danny was a doctor, so the small spots of blood didn't bother him, what did concern him was that Paul probably wet his cast; and if you asked any reasonable doctor that could lead to some pretty serious infections.

Nurses told you that covering a cast with a plastic bag was the best way to take a shower with a broken arm. Danny and most other doctors would advise against that. Just toughing it out was the best solution, unless you begged for a waterproof cast.

During his residency Danny had seen a kid lose his arm to necrotizing fasciitis just because he had wet his cast during a shower, and then didn't go to the doctor to get it changed, but rather sicked a dryer on it for half-an-hour.

Even though that wasn't very likely to happen to Paul, Danny figured the fiberglass outside had probably gotten wet, which could mean that the casing (if it was also wet) no longer supported the bone properly, and then the arm wouldn't set right. Danny decided that he would tell Paul to get it changed, or maybe even check it out himself.

Paul didn't feel as heavy as he had looked a few weeks ago, but even so, Danny had to lean him against the door frame to catch his breath, and to get the door open. As Danny paused for a minute panting, he noticed that Paul was shivering.

Danny figured that maybe Paul was more soaked than he looked, before realizing that one side of his own jacket was damp with rain water. Damn, he'd have to get Paul some warm clothes, which was more of a job suited towards Mindy or Morgan. They were the touchy-feely types; especially Morgan, who had a way of being especially discrete and kind with all of his patients. Maybe he should call them to help him out?

Once inside, Danny set Paul down on the couch. Being kind and gentle was really not his forte, he figured he could use some better help here, or else things weren't gonna go to well with Paul.

Danny reached for his cell phone in his back pocket, his fingers pausing over the dial buttons, trying to decide whether he should call Mindy or Morgan.

* * *

Mindy cursed as she searched around for her cell phone. Who had the balls to call her at 5 in the morning? Angrily, she picked up her phone, the ringtone was even worse than her clock; mostly because she had ignored it for that past two calls and it still kept ringing.

"This had better be Gwen calling with some juicy gossip! Or else you'll be wishing that you hadn't gotten up the morning by the time I'm finished with you!"

Danny responded "Jeez Mindy, cool it. I just wanted your help with something"

"Well, it can wait Danny! I'm sleeping right now, and in case you hadn't noticed, so is the rest of New York."

"Well right now, I need you to stop being so self preoccupied and help me, just for once Mindy! I'm at my old apartment..."

"Look Danny, I'm tired and I need to sleep in case you hadn't noticed!" Mindy complained

"Well so do I! I just need you to help me this once, I help you out all the time!"

"Oh yeah? Since when?"

"Since the time I took you to see your ex in rehab, or maybe when I helped you prepare for that TV interview you were supposed to do!" Paul responded angrily

"Fine! I'll help, okay?"

"I expect you here in 10 mins" the line went dead

Mindy moodily spoke back into her phone "I expect you in 10 mins, blah blah! What a nag!"

She slid her coat on over her brightly colored pink pajamas. Danny had done a lot of favors for her in the past, maybe she could help him out for once, even if he had interrupted her rated R dream about her and Casey's honeymoon

Man did she miss her boyfriend.

* * *

It was nearly 6 when Mindy knocked on the door of Danny's old apartment. The door jerked open immediately, almost as if someone had been pacing next to it.

"Look I'm here, now what do you need Danny?"

"Mindy, I know you two don't have the best relationship, but Mindy I need some help with Paul. I found him like this, in the morning and I..."

Mindy interrupted "I don't want to be mean Danny but, Paul took my job and he's been really sulky lately, he should grow up, ya know? Besides he already told me that he didn't need my help."

Danny sucked in a breath of air "Well this time Mindy, I really think he does."

"Why? Did he break his other arm? Or maybe he sliced his arm open on the broken pieces of his mirror, after he looked in it last night."

"Actually Mindy, Paul had an accident, about two weeks ago..."

"Yeah! I already know Danny, he broke his arm! That's why he can't take care of any of his patients."

"Well it's a bit more complicated than that..."

Danny was interrupted by the sound of yelling and something crashing to the ground. Apparently unharmed, Morgan stepped out of the living room, a big smile on his face, he was facing towards the couches.

"It's okay man, be cool I'm not gonna hurt you" Morgan was speaking softly, he had a pair of latex gloves on.

Danny winced as another pot flew past Morgan's head, barely missing him

"Like I was trying to say Mindy, Paul had a pretty big accident...you see he lost his hand."


End file.
